Bus/coach Crash At Patong

[Master Chief]

A bus has crashed at the foot of the hill into Patong, several motorbikes waiting at the crossing outside the wat were hit by the bus. time 1845

[Wellington]

A bus has crashed at the foot of the hill into Patong, several motorbikes waiting at the crossing outside the wat were hit by the bus. time 1845

How many times will this sort of terrible accident happen with buses and lorries which are probably rarely serviced

Lorries who labour up the hill in both directions could be forced to take the long way round through Chalong and Karon, or Chern Talay ,Kamala.

Surely regulation on this issue would not be too difficult to enforce?

I hope no-one was killed yesterday?

[LivinginKata]

No point in diverting through Chalong as we have just the same sort of problem on the slopes up & down to Kata. We have some sort of regular accidents at our road end with broken down trucks and runaway vehicles. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen a big truck or bus lose control at the last bend into Kata (just above Kata School) and land up on side, after having mown down traffic coming up hill. Have regular fatalities with motor bike drivers innocently coming up the hill.

[BigSnake]

sad

[Wellington]

No point in diverting through Chalong as we have just the same sort of problem on the slopes up & down to Kata. We have some sort of regular accidents at our road end with broken down trucks and runaway vehicles. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen a big truck or bus lose control at the last bend into Kata (just above Kata School) and land up on side, after having mown down traffic coming up hill. Have regular fatalities with motor bike drivers innocently coming up the hill.

Yes I agree with all that; but Kata Hill is shorter and if there was an escape road with gravel on the bend opposite the new"Shophouses" being built on a pile of rubbish it could help

[makavelithedon]

A bus has crashed at the foot of the hill into Patong, several motorbikes waiting at the crossing outside the wat were hit by the bus. time 1845

How many times will this sort of terrible accident happen with buses and lorries which are probably rarely serviced

Lorries who labour up the hill in both directions could be forced to take the long way round through Chalong and Karon, or Chern Talay ,Kamala.

Surely regulation on this issue would not be too difficult to enforce?

I hope no-one was killed yesterday?

No, regulation wouldn't be too difficult in any normal country where even 50% want to see a society 'progress' but when that figure appears most of the time around 10-15% you've no chance. Couple that with actual zero 'enforcement' by police and ministry and it ends up as the usual clown's and juggler's ball!

Edited March 10, 2008 by makavelithedon

[LivinginKata]

Yes I agree with all that; but Kata Hill is shorter and if there was an escape road with gravel on the bend opposite the new"Shophouses" being built on a pile of rubbish it could help

No no... those shophouses are on the inside of the bend, and impossible to use an escape. The vehicles crash into the outside of the bend, which is a high earth bank. Once upon a time there was a crash barrier, but that has long gone and never been replaced.

[Sir Burr]

Lorries who labour up the hill in both directions could be forced to take the long way round through Chalong and Karon, or Chern Talay ,Kamala.

The hills between Patong and Kamala are worse. Why should Patong's problems be inflicted on other places?

[Wellington]

Lorries who labour up the hill in both directions could be forced to take the long way round through Chalong and Karon, or Chern Talay ,Kamala.

The hills between Patong and Kamala are worse. Why should Patong's problems be inflicted on other places?

Well, there we have it; down to the bus and lorry owners to check the brakes and service the vehicles more than once every five years!

Every route has severe hills and bends

But the lorries could be banned from Patong Hill which is the worst.

[Wellington]

Yes I agree with all that; but Kata Hill is shorter and if there was an escape road with gravel on the bend opposite the new"Shophouses" being built on a pile of rubbish it could help

No no... those shophouses are on the inside of the bend, and impossible to use an escape. The vehicles crash into the outside of the bend, which is a high earth bank. Once upon a time there was a crash barrier, but that has long gone and never been replaced.

Yes I did say "opposite".

[huggybear]

A bus has crashed at the foot of the hill into Patong, several motorbikes waiting at the crossing outside the wat were hit by the bus. time 1845

Nothing new, half a dozen of these happen every year.

There is constant talk of a tunnel, definitely needed along with the overpasses at Central.

But wait, first we'll need a 100 million baht study................

[LivinginKata]

Yes I did say "opposite".

Ah... I see what you mean. Yes, that would work ..... BUT, who's going to pay for all the excavation, not to mention purchase of the land. NEVER HAPPEN IMHO...

Oh, a further thought. Will still not help the poor sods driving up the hill when the runaway vehicle crosses over the other side of the road. Once saw a new pick-up squashed under a bus that lost control and crossed the road into the earth bank. Maybe the driver survived, but mbike driver... no chance..

Edited March 10, 2008 by LivinginKata

[Boater]

I just saw a picture of a crashed bus on a Thai newspaper in 7 - 11........ if this was the crash mentioned, looked very serious

[Wellington]

Yes I did say "opposite".

Ah... I see what you mean. Yes, that would work ..... BUT, who's going to pay for all the excavation, not to mention purchase of the land. NEVER HAPPEN IMHO...

Oh, a further thought. Will still not help the poor sods driving up the hill when the runaway vehicle crosses over the other side of the road. Once saw a new pick-up squashed under a bus that lost control and crossed the road into the earth bank. Maybe the driver survived, but mbike driver... no chance..

Agree again;

but nothing will be done to enforce servicing and brake checks which would be one step forward.

[huggybear]

Lorries who labour up the hill in both directions could be forced to take the long way round through Chalong and Karon, or Chern Talay ,Kamala.

The hills between Patong and Kamala are worse. Why should Patong's problems be inflicted on other places?

Funny you should say that, just rode past a big truck flipped at the bottom of the Kamala hill going towards Patong.

Drivers compartment completely smashed, can't believe anyone survived that.

It's still there lying on it's side.

[LivinginKata]

Agree again;

but nothing will be done to enforce servicing and brake checks which would be one step forward.

Actually it's the very serious overloading of trucks that make the brakes & gears ineffective. There are already laws about truck weights, and there are compulsory weigh stations on most main road highways. but I don't see these weigh stations on Phuket Island. Maybe I've just not noticed, but a weigh station at Kathu and Chalong would be a good idea.

[LivinginKata]

Monday, March 10, 2008

Phuket roads leave 2 dead, 15 injured

A crowd looks on in Kamala as rescue volunteers work to free one of the truck's passengers, who was crushed under the overturned truck.

PHUKET: At least two people are dead and many more injured after a truck overturned in Kamala this morning and a tour bus slammed into a house in Patong yesterday evening.

About 9 am today, a 10-wheeled truck carrying mattresses from Bangkok to Phuket overturned on a hill in front of the Kamala Falls condo project site.

Lt Col Warit Jado, Duty Officer at Kamala Police Station, rushed to the scene with other officers and Kusoldharm Foundation staff after being notified of the crash.

One of the two passengers who were asleep in the cab at the time died in the accident. Identified only as “Yantra”, the man was pinned under the wreckage and died at the scene.

The other passenger, identified only as “Yeesa”, was rushed to Patong Hospital for treatment. He was seriously injured but still conscious, Lt Col Warit said.

The driver, Wangsen Yeemeng, 35, escaped with only minor injuries. He will be fined with negligent driving resulting in death, he added.

Wangsen told the Gazette that he and the other two men had just arrived in Phuket from Bangkok, having spent Sunday night in Tab Phut district, in Phang Nga.

“I tried to wake my friends up before the accident happened, but they kept sleeping. After the truck overturned, I first had to find a way out of the wreckage,” he said.

Around 6:30 last night, the brakes on a Nareuporn Tour bus failed as it was entering Patong. The bus plowed into a sedan car in front of it and into an abandoned house opposite Wat Patong.

At least one person has been confirmed dead and at least 15 others injured, including one victim who will have a leg amputated.

Patong resident Simon Rooke of England, one of the hundreds of people caught in the resulting tailback that stretched all the way over the hill to the go-kart track in Kathu, told the Gazette it would be a miracle if only one person died in the crash.

“There was glass everywhere, people everywhere and a coach half on road and half in the housing plot,” he said.

“I assume the coach was coming into Patong alongside the temple, then braked before taking the corner. The brakes must have failed, causing it to veer straight through into the end of Pisit Gorani Rd,” he said.

“Seeing the carnage when driving past I said to my mate that there could probably be at least 10 dead in that.... mostly motorbikes waiting at the intersection waiting to go up the mountain…

“Had it been a weekday, it would have been much worse,” he said.

“I think it’s way overdue that they enforce mandatory maintenance tests and checks for commercial vehicles, as it is these vehicles that are causing these terrible accidents,” he added.

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Send Letter to Gazette Editor Phuket, Thailand

18:00 local time (GMT +7)

[Dupont]

I was going the other way yesterday afternoon and a bus was parked up on the way up from Kathu to the chinese temple. The wheels were off at the back and they were looking at the brakes on it.

Any pictures of the offending bus?

[donna]

remember the accident last year on the last sharp bend coming into patong, just behind the temple? a truck overturned and completely squashed a pick up on its left side. was terrible.

getting back to the current accident....call me silly, but i just think that these tall buses are too dangerous. the centre of gravity is so high that it doesnt take much to tip one over when going around a corner. i saw one a few years ago completely flipped - wheels up in the air! amazing how anyone survived, but i dont believe anyone died in that particular one.

[nookiebear]

The lack of maintenance on most of the buses ,coaches & lorries here ,coupled with drivers falling asleep at the wheel makes it a wonder there are not a lot more accidents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LivinginKata]

Just this morning about 07.30 on the hill down into Kata (near Kata School) yet another large coach kareening out of control, flipped onto it's side, and crushing a pick-up and some motor bikes. The pick-up looked like a pile of scrap metal and I thought no-one could survive that. Yet the driver and his two children survived with minor injuries. A couple of motor bike drivers had the worst of the injuries. The bus driver confessed that the bus brakes were not in good condition. Maybe he's never heard of changing down the gear box to help slow the bus down (that's a common failing with ALL Thai drivers).

As of 10.30 the main road is still blocked with the coach on it's side across both lanes.

[goldfish]

I hope the next people to die in one of these accidents will be a politicians wife and child. I'm sorry to say it, but it's the only way things are gonna change. Poor Somchai knows full well the condition of the vehicle he has to drive, but has no choice. What do you think is gonna happen when he tells his boss the brakes are faulty? 'Drive it, or lose your job'. He's only trying to feed his family, tired as he is from trying to slow down whilst bleeping the throttle so it doesn't stall and hanging onto the steering wheel 'cause it pulls to one side when he uses the brakes. No wonder he falls asleep on his 12 hour/7dyas aweek shift. Knowing he's probably gonna be sent to prison 'cause his boss will shirk responsibility, it's no wonder he does a runner.

But we all know what will happen next. Mrs Hi-So will be safe in her merc whilst a row of people on bikes get turned into pizza and we will still be reading these stories in 10 years time

[geriatrickid]

I hope the next people to die in one of these accidents will be a politicians wife and child. I'm sorry to say it, but it's the only way things are gonna change.

But we all know what will happen next. Mrs Hi-So will be safe in her merc whilst a row of people on bikes get turned into pizza and we will still be reading these stories in 10 years time

Got to agree with you on point 1 although obviously neither you nor I wants to see someone's death

Mrs. Hi So isn't that much safer even in a shiny white mercedes. I think it was either last Nov. or Dec. coming up the hill we passed a vehicle that had steel rods that had slid off the back of a truck right through the windscreen and into the vehicle. Was surprised that no one was impaled. I'll probably be long dead before the gov't acts.

[Ping]

They could always do what they do here; take their bus/truck to the police station and ask for it to be 'put off the road'... then tell the boss that they were pulled over.